Yankeeholics Postgame Report 4/17

The Yankees have won their 4th straight series and are going for the series sweep… tomorrow against Rich Harden but let’s take it game by game. The scoring started when Nick Johnson drew his league leading 13th walk of the season with the bases loaded to make it 1-0. Teixeira followed with just his 4th hit of the entire season, this one being an infield RBI hit. His struggles continue and I am starting to worry. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the next inning while Burnett kept the Ragners scoreless. Jeter hit a homer in the third, the highlight of the innings. Then in the next inning A-Rod broke his streak of 41 AB’s without a homer with a shot to the opposite field. Burnett continued to dominate and the Rangers finally broke through in the 8th on a three run homer by Nelson Cruz who is an early, very early, favorite to win the MVP thanks to his MLB leading 7 homers… I should have gotten him for my fantasy league……. The Yankees won 7-3 in the end and have won their last 4 series’s.

Player of the Game: AJ Burnett: AJ fired 7 innings of shutout baseball reducing his ERA to 2.37 and picking up 7 strikeouts compared to 2 walks which is obviously great for him, considering he is one of the most wild pitchers in baseball.

Play of the Game: The Yankees Third Inning: Since there wasn’t a dive or anything like that I am going to have to do something more general, this being the big inning that won the Yankees the game. They scored 4 runs in the third and the run differential was, guess what, 4. 

Drive of the Game: A-Rod’s first homer of the season: Honestly, I wasn’t sure if he was going to get a homer all month but he did… This is a huge homer because first of all, A-Rod will get into the groove of hitting homers. Second, Tex will probably start getting better pitches now that A-Rod is hitting homers.

Series Number 3

The first series in the Bronx between the Yanks and the Angels resulted in another 2-1 Yankees win, boosting their record to 6-3. Here’s a recap of the games

Game 1
Yankees 7, Angels 5
Andy Pettite pitched a masterful game as the Yankees overpowered the Angels in the first game of the series. Home runs by Nick Johnson and Jeter boosted the Yankees out to a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Pettite completely shut down the Angels, using his cutter effectively to keep them off the board. It was only by the eighth inning that Los Angeles finally broke through against Pettite, via a Kendry Morales solo shot. The score by that time was 5-1 Yankees, which was improved to 7-1 by the ninth with Curtis Granderson and Jorge Posada gettings RBI hits. Girardi gave the ball to David Roberston for the last inning, with a Yankee win seemingly locked up. But the Angels loaded the bases with no outs, and after an Eric Aybar strike out, Bobby Abreu pomptly unloaded them with a grand slam. Suddenly, it was a 2 run ball game, and Los Angeles has life once again. David Roberston managed to keep his nerve however, and got Matsui to pop out to Cano for the final out to seal a 7-5 Yankee victory.
Game 2
Angels 5, Yankees 3
Javier Vazquez took the mound hoping to bounce back from a terrible first start, while Joel Piniero took the hill for LA to try and deny him. It was the Angels who drew blood first in the third with RBIs from Aybar and Abreu helping them jump out to a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Joel Piniero was one hitting the Yankees through 4, using a power sinker to cut through their lineup. Nick Swisher tripled Cano to make it a one run game in the fifth, but the Angels promptly opened up the lead again in the sixth with RBIs from Morales and Maicer Izturis. Piniero continued his dominance, and left the game after seven innings with a 5-1 lead. A 2 run eighth for the Yankees made the game lose, but Fernando Rodney came in to shut the door and seal a 5-3 Angels victory.
Game 3
Yankees 6, Angels 2
In the rubber game of the series, the Yankees handed the ball to Phil Hughes for his first start of the season, while the Angels turned to Scott Kazmir to seal out the series. A homer by ex-Yankee Hideki Matsui got the Angels a 1-0 lead in the second, but the Yankees struck back in the bottom of the inning with a solo blast from Cano. Then in the bottom of the third, Jeter hit his trademark other way home run, to push the Yankees to a 2-1 lead. In the next inning, Granderson hit a triple and Jeter got a double, earning them both RBIs and earning Hughes a 4-1 lead. Hughes was getting the job done, and though he was far from impressive, he was pitching well enough to quiet the Angels’ bats. After Cano hit another homer, this one a two run shot, in the fifth, Brian Stokes took over from Scott Kazmir. Granderson promptly hit his second triple of thegame, but he did not score as the Yankee lead was kept to 6-1. In the top of the sixth, Phil Hughes put two men on with no out, and as he was nearing 110 pitches, Girardi replaced him with David Roberston. While it was not great pitching from Phil Hughes, he did what was required and he more than proved that he belongs in the starting rotation. One run scored in that inning, to make it a 6-2 game, but the bullpens made sure no more runs crossed the plate for the rest of the game as Mariano got the final out to seal a 6-2 win and win the series for the Yanks. This game was a big one for the Yankees, as it proved a lot of players could perform: one of Granderson’s triples was off a lefty, proving that he is no longer completely clueless against them as he was last year (in 2009 with the Tigers he hit .181 against left handed pitching), Hughes threw over 100 pitches, proving he has the strength and endurance to become a key part of the Yankee rotation, and Cano continued his red hot beginning of the season by blasting 2 homers, proving that he is a worthy contender for the best second baseman in baseball. All in all, quite a successful end to the series for New York.
Overall, it was a nice performance from the Yankees against the reigning AL West Champions. There are still players who need to get going, notably Javier Vazquez and Mark Texeira, but New York looks settled and determined to repeat their 2009 success. Thanks for reading

Series Number Two

By the way the Yankeeholics postgame report will start next
weekend, so sorry about that. Well the series in Tampa is over with the ____
taking 2 of 3. The series was a good one including an almost no-no, a bunch of
homers and great defense. So here we go.

Game 1
Rays 9, Yankees 3
The Rays took game one against the Yankees behind a dominant performance by
David Price. Javier Vazquez struggled in his return to the Yankees even though
he was sharp for the first 3 innings. In the top of the 3rd inning the
scoring started with A-Rod tripling in Nick Johnson then scoring on a throwing
error. 2-0 Yanks. The bottom of that inning the Rays responded with 5 runs,
including a homer by Carlos Pena. After that, David Price shut the Yankees down
going 7 2/3 innings, striking out 7 and allowing 3 runs. Javier Vazquez allowed
8 runs in total and did not have a good return to his Yankee career. It’s only
the beginning of the season though and you never know. He might turn on to be
the Cy Young winner or something.

Game 2
Yankees 10, Rays 0
CC Sabathia wanted to show youngster David Price how it was really done
today, and did he. CC got out after out and eventually took a no hitter in the
6th inning. At this point it was 4-0 Yankees on a Robinson Cano 2 run
homer and Mark Teixeira’s first of the year, one of three on the day. He is
breaking out of his slump. Hopefully. So as I was saying, as CC took his no-no
into the 6th he continued to dominate until a call that probably
could have gone the other way. This would have been a strike 3… But no, Jason
Bartlett continued to bat and eventually he smoked one to left field but guess who
it is, Tex! Teixeira made a diving catch to save the no hitter. This was one of
plenty more. So CC continued the no hitter into the 7th when with 1
man on second after a walk and BJ Upton up, he grounded one past the third base
bag for a triple. No wait, A-Rod (A-God) made a beautiful diving stop and a
strong throw to catch Upton. Tex made a nice scoop at first as well. In the top
of the inning while the Yankees were batting they scored, oh no that many just 4 to give them a totally unsecure lead
8-0, which they would make even more unsecure with a 10 run lead. (If you can’t
tell, I either have really bad sarcasm, or you just have no brain)… So as CC
took the no-no into the bottom of the eighth he got the first 2 batters out and
then Kelly Shoppach lined one to left field for a base hit. I was crying one
moment and then I was throwing stuff across the room the next. So I was angry.
But then after the game I found out on Sportscenter that they would have taken
CC out of the game regardless if he was throwing a no hitter. I’m going to put
myself in CC’s point of view. “I’m so rich, blah blah blah, I play for the best
team in baseball, blah blah blah, I can beat the heck out of the Red Sox and Kevin
You-kill-us any day, blah blah blah, but really. Would I rather pitch 7 2/3
innings of 1 hit ball and be credited with a fantastic pitching performance or
pitch 8 innings of no-hit baseball and not even get to finish the freaking game.”

Game 3
Yankees 7, Rays 3
The rubber game of the series was the closest game one still being separated
by a good sized margin of 4 runs. The game started with the Yankees going 1-2-3
and Burnett struggling with command and all that stuff. He gave up two runs and
the score was 2-1, Rays by the six innings when the Rays took James Shields
out. After Robby Cano on base “Jorge Juiced One” to the left field seats with
Randy Choate pitching. The Yankees would take a 4-2 lead and never look back.
Burnett pitched seven strong innings but only got 1 K. That is not like him. As
long as he pitches well I don’t care but he needs those K’s. The Yankees would
eventually win 7-3 with A-Rod hitting a double etc. The Yankees brought in Joba
for the eighth just to get some work in. He gave up one run in his one inning
of work which ain’t that great a sign. He can only pitch in a close game. Does
this mean anything? Oh yes it does…

Thank you, thank you. Please comment on whether you would pitch 7 2/3 innings
of one hit ball or 8 innings of no hit ball without getting to finish the no hitter.


Around the League

7:48

Here are some games around the league right now. I will do this every hour. Well at least try.

Detroit 5, Cleveland 2 —— Final
Toronto 7, Baltimore 6 —– Final
Colorado 7, San Diego 0 —– Finals

Atlanta 5, San Francisco 4 ——- Bottom 11th
Chicago 1, Cincinnati 1 ——- Top 3rd
Los Angeles NL 0, Florida 0 —— Bottom 2nd
Yankees 0, Tampa Bay 0 ——- Bottom 3rd
Philadelphia 0, Houston 0 ——- Top 1st
Seattle 0, Texas 0 ——– Top 1st
St. Louis 0, Milwaukee 0 —— Top 1st

Boston vs Kansas City 8:10 pm
Minnesota vs Chicago 8:10 pm
Pittsburgh vs Arizona 9:40 pm
Oakland vs Los Angeles AL 10:05 pm

Series Numero Uno

Hey people, sorry about not blogging in a while, been busy.
But the Yankees totally beat the heck out of the Red Sox this last series. Now I
shall explain to you what we will most likely be doing the rest of the year. On weekdays, we will post series review the day after a series ends. But on the weekends, after
the game we will have a full Yankeeholic post game report, including all the
thing the regular Yankees post game has (Drive of the Game, Play of the Game,
Player of the game) stuff like that and of course, a full sum up. Now
here is your sum-up of the Yankees-Red Sox series. 

Game 1
Red Sox 9, Yankees 7

In the first game of the whole entire series the Red Sox
stole it from the Yanks. Beckett labored and eventually gave up a homer, the
first homer of the series, to Jorge Posada. This followed by a jack to center
by Curtis Granderson. After that Nick Swisher hit a single to right followed by
a Gardy hit to left field proceeded by a Captain Clutch ground out on a close
play. Then after a Youkilis double and an Ortiz ground ball, Adrian Beltre hit
a sac fly to center. Then relatively nothing happened till the top of the 4th.
To lead off the inning Cano doubled. Jorge and Curtis grounded out and Swish
walked. Gardner, who has looked good so far, drove in Cano and Swisher to
second. Jeet then singled and Swish scored and Gardner moved to third. Knowing
Victor Martinez is one of the worst defensive catchers in the league, Jeter
stole second and Gardner stole home. Yay! Yankees were up 5-1 at that point and
Beckett was out of the game. But CC isn’t perfect. So in the bottom of the 5th,
with 2 on and 2 out Marco Scutaro singled in JD Drew and Cameron to third but
Gardner had to throw it away didn’t he? Didn’t matter because nothing happened
until the bottom of the next inning and boy, was it ugly. With Pedroia and
V-Mart on third and second, You-kil-us tripled scoring 2. Adrian Beltre singled
in a run of David Robertson and the score was 5-4. The Yankees scored 2 runs in
the top of the 7th and Boston respond with 3 runs in the bottom of
the inning and the game was tied. Then on a D-Ped single the Sox took the lead and
kept it eventually winning the game. But this was the first game of the series
and the Yankees could still go 161-1 on the season…

Game 2
Yankees 6, Red Sox 4

Well I got to make fun of my Red Sox lover friends. Why
exactly am I friends with them? Don’t ask. So the game started with Lester
getting the Yankees 1-2-3. Burnett struggled in the first giving up a sac-fly
but no more. Swish doubled in Cano and moved Posada over the next inning. Now
let’s move to the bottom of the third when Victor Martinez slammed a homer to
drive in 2. Currently the score is 3-1.  The
 little amount of boringness in baseball
applies and nobody scores till the 5th when the Yankees knock in 3. The
Sox tied it in the bottom of the inning with a V-Mart double. The score
remained the same until the eighth inning when Nick Johnson of all people
walked in a run in an epic AB. I was biting my nails and waiting for the pitch
to come. And it did. Johnson trotted down to first base with the honor of the
winning run. The Yankees held on and Robby Cano added an insurance run with a
homer. But I need to go back to the bottom of the inning. Joba the Hut is in
for the Yanks and he was a monster. He struck out 2 in his 2/3 of an inning. He
was pumped. So was I. Pumping my fist like crazy. Yeah. Then Mo came in and I don’t
even have to explain what happened next.

Game 3
Yankees 3, Red Sox 1

We had a dandy, an unexpected beauty by Pettitte as well as
John Lackey but fortunately for us, his bullpen ruined it. The first run came
in the third inning when Dustin Pedroia led off the inning with a double to
deep left and with 2 outs, the guy bashing reporters the day before came through
and hit a game scoring single. The next “action” came in the 7th for
the Yankees. Jorge Posada doubled to doubled to center to tie him with Mickey
Mantle for most doubles ever. Congrats to him. Now let’s get back to the game.
After Granderson struck out, Swisher hit a clutch single to tie the game. After
FANTASTIC pitching from Chan Ho Park (3 innings, 1 hit) the game went into the
10th inning. Curtis Granderson came up big with a moon shot to right
to give the Yanks the lead. The Yanks added a run and Mo closed it out for the second
straight day to give the Yankees the series win.

The Yankees
beat the Red Sox 2-1 in the series in the end, proving they are the better team.
That’s right Sox fans. Thanks you and to end this article at about the start of
the Yankee game, I will give you the lineups.

Derek
Jeter SS
Nick Johnson DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Nick Swisher RF
Marcus Thames LF
Curtis Granderson CF

Pitching: Javier Vazquez

Jason
Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Ben Zobrist RF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Willy Aybar DH
Dioner Navarro C
Sean Rodriguez 2B

Pitching: David Price

First Pitch: Now

Players Impress

During Spring Training players struggle (Derek Jeter, CC
Sabathia) and players are good (Javier Vazquez, Alex Rodriguez) and some
players surprise us. That is what this post will be about, the surprises of
this year’s Yankees camp.

 I’ll
start with the only pitcher I have thought about. Well before Ace started to
blow up like a bomb, Sergio Mitre was having a great spring and he still is. He
has a 3.79 ERA in 19 innings this Spring Training, which isn’t great but it’s
better than CC, Burnett, Joba, Javier Vazquez and most of the other guys.
Mitre, coming off a bad season after his Tommy John surgery season, is set to
have a good year. Many players have great years in their second year from Tommy
John for some whack reason. Mitre isn’t the 5th starter but very
well could have been, but Phil Hughes was named with the position. I am
starting to get really scared about the Yankee pitching staff… It is
struggling. We will see and hope that the Yankees rotation gets better.

Another
player impressing is Jon Weber who you probably have never ever heard of. Ever.
He is a minor league veteran who has never played in the Major’s before and he
is 32. Is this the year? Marcus Thames is struggling, still hitting .136 with 2 homers,
and Randy Winn isn’t doing so hot either. Weber is smoking .519 in 28 at-bats
this spring. He deserves a job with the club, but remember, 28 AB’s isn’t THAT
many at bats. We will see how it works out for Weber.

The
last surprise player me and Mrinal have been surprised by is David Winfree. He
isn’t hitting over .300 but he has 6 RBI’s! The team leader only has nine so
six by an unknown invitee is pretty impressive. He will definitely not make the
team unless he doesn’t get out in any of his remaining at-bats which we all
know is probably unlikely

Opening day is coming up soon, when the Yanks kill the Red Sox, sorry let me correct myself, Red Sux. The Yanks ain’t looking so hot though, they are only 11-14 in Spring Training. Spring Training, like i have said many times, doesn’t matter but the players are struggling. Jeter is hitting .227. CC has a 7.60 ERA. Marcus Thames has a .136 BA. So the Yankees better pull this together by the regular season. Maybe, just maybe its George Steinbrenner field. The Yankees are so used to the dimensions of Yankee Stadium that they aren’t hitting as many moon-shots and stuff. Let’s pray that the stars of the team (Jeter, CC) will get it together and win.

Is It Werth It?

The only reason I have that title is because I wanted
something to include the last name of Jayson Werth. The title probably has
nothing to do with this article except for the fact that it will be about
Jayson Werth.

                So to
cut to the point, the Yankees might need a left fielder in 2011 and guess what I
heard! Reggie, yes the Mr. October himself, is close friends with Jayson Werth.
Jackson was teammates with Werth’s stepfather and Werth’s uncle was a teammate of
Reggie’s as well. None of this matters except for the fact that the Yanks
might, just might, have the upper edge to signing Werth than most teams might
because Jackson is close with Werth. If the Yankees are unable to sign Carl
Crawford then Werth is the second option and a good one too. Werth who pounded
36 homers last year and probably could hit more with the dimensions of Yankee Stadium.
So the point of this is can Jackson recruit Werth? Sure he can but will the Yanks
offer Werth a deal? Maybe. If Carl Crawford doesn’t accept. So let me hear
about what you guys about Werth and Jackson and all and leave comments. Thanks

1Jayson.jpg

Some Baseball Books You Might Be Interested In

Over the past couple years, I have read quite a few books about baseball. Plenty were mediocre, but some really stood out amongst the crowd. No doubt you would have heard of/read some of these books, but if you are an avid baseball fan, these are all must-reads.

The Yankee Years- A deep and insightful book autobiography about Joe Torre’s 12 years managing the greatest team in baseball. It reveals the full story of the highs and lows of Torre’s time at the helm of the team, including reminisces upon the 4 World Championships, the overpowering nature of George Steinbrenner, and Torre’s take on the whole steroids scandal. A controversial and informative book, this is a must read for all Yankee fans
Moneyball- Probably the most influential baseball book in history, Michael Lewis follows the story of the low budget Oakland Athletics and their GM, Billy Beane, as the successfully disprove the myth that you need money to do well. Beane works with what he has to build one of the best teams in baseball, in a revealing and insightful book that will certainly change your views of baseball.
The Truth About Ruth and More…- You may not have heard of this book, but it is a true hidden gem.This book “Debunks the most popular myths in Yankees baseball history” in a factual way that makes sense. It questions whether Derek Jeter is really as clutch as everyone thinks he is, whether the Babe actually called his shot, if the Yankees really were Pedro’s “Daddy,” and much more. A great coffee table book, this novel is a very enjoyable read
Baseball Bafflers-A fun little book with interesting tidbits from the world of baseball stories, quotes, odd facts, and trivia. Fun to flip around the book, looking for a goofy Yogi-ism or a humorous story about Lefty Gomez to share with your friends. A fun, quick read that will give you more info about baseball than you ever wanted to know.
Juiced-Jose Canseco’s tell-all autobiography. Though it’s a horribly written book, the content is too intriguing to pass up on. From the Publisher’s Weekly Review: “After a year of playing some uninspired minor league ball, Canseco packed on a superhuman 25 pounds of muscle in one off-season with the help of steroids and a human growth hormone. A string of tainted baseball achievements followed-including an all-star invitation as a rookie, an MVP award and a World Series title with the Oakland A’s-before his life and career unraveled…But despite the headline-grabbing claims in this book, whether Canseco really knows anything about the problem beyond his own use is questionable. Rather, what emerges is a portrait of a bitter, disgraced ex-player who so desperately wants respect that he casts his own extraordinary recklessness as perfectly commonplace, a scorched-earth attempt to raise his own legend by bringing the game-and some of its great players-down to his level. Most shocking is that Canseco remains an unabashed booster of steroids, claiming they’ll one day be used safely under medical supervision to propel humans to better health and great feats. Doctors disagree, and it should be noted that doctors did not administer Canseco’s steroid use. ‘Is it cheating,’ Canseco asks in a revealing moment of moral relativism, ‘to do what everyone wants you to do?’ If that very question were asked by a little leaguer, its answer could not be more obvious.” In addition to this, Canseco claims that he introduced Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to steroids, but he does not seem ashamed-he seems almost proud. This books offers a different take on the whole steroids scandal, and an insightful view into a person as twisted as Jode Canseco. Though this is by no means a light or enjoyable read, it is one of the most interesting books I have read in a while, and all baseball fans would benefit from checking this one out.

These are the baseball books that I have read that have really stood out. Have you read any novels about baseball that you enjoyed? Feel free to tell us in the comment section. Thanks for reading

A Spring Training Update

6 days to go for the regular season to start! As we count off the minutes, here is the latest in the Yanks Spring Training…..

-The Yankees have a 10-13 record-4th last in their Grapefruit League. Not good. But a couple surprises at the top of the standings: San Francisco, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Detroit, and the Cubs have had excellent spring trainings, despite the fact that they do not make the playoffs last year. Judging by this spring, we could be in for quite a few upsets this year.
-For players with at least 20 at bats on the Yankees, a man named Jon Weber leads the average chart. This guy has smoked .583. No, I have not heard of him either, but I can tell you he is a 32 year old outfielder who has never been to the majors. Perhaps this could be his breakthrough year?
-Posada is hitting .367, Cano smacking .350, and a pleasant surprise is that Francisco Cervelli is smoking the ball at .333. Brandon Laird and Mark Texeira are the other Yankees hitting over .300.
-New Yankee Curtis Granderson has acclimatized quickly to New York, hitting .297, but Nick Johnson and Randy Winn are struggling with a .256 average and .219 average respectively. Johnson does however lead the team in homers, tied with Mark Texeira at 3. Alex Rodriguez and Chad Curtis each have 8 RBIs, which lead the team
-The Yankee captain, Derek Jeter, is struggling severely, only managing a .237 average. Hopefully, DJ will be able to break out of his slump in time for the regular season
-Pitching wise, not a single Yankee has shone, barring Mo and Javier Vazquez. Mo has not allowed any runs in 4 innings, and Vazquez, returning back to pinstripes for the first time since 2004, sports a 3.21 ERA and 2 wins. All of the other Yankee pitchers are struggling, including the CC Sabathia (6.43 ERA), Phil Hughes (0-3 record), Andy Pettite (4.50 ERA) AJ Burnett (5.52 ERA), Joba Chamberlain (a stunning 14.09 ERA), Alfredo Aceves (6.06 ERA), and Chad Gaudin (8.68 ERA). All of these pitchers are important cogs in the Yankee team, and if they don’t get going in a hurry, this season will be a disaster.
And on that gloomy note, I will sign off. Things look ominous for the Yankees, and we must just hope that this spring training does not reflect upon what the regular season shall be. Thanks for reading

March Madness Part 2

The last time I blogged about March Madness, the likes of Georgetown, Kansas, and Villanova were out. I am just here to update you about all the big upsets along with the one I already blogged about.

  • (14)Ohio beat #3 seed Georgetown in the first round.
  • (10)St. Mary’s beat #2 Villanova in the second round.
  • (9)Northern Iowa beat #1 Kansas in the second round.
  • (13)Murray State beat #4 Vanderbilt in the first round. 
  • (6)Tennessee beat #2 Ohio State in the third round.
  • (5)Butler beat #1 Syracuse in the third round.

These are some of the bigger upsets of the tourny… I will update you later…

Bye

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